The District Administration made clear its intentions of cracking the whip on the increasing child beggar pattern being observed in the city.  As a result of rise in the number of cases reported against beggars for harassing tourists and locals, the District Collector has decided to take action against those promoting them.

The action would not be any harsh punishment but rather to provide an opportunity for the beggars to learn vocational skills.

The decision came after continuous cases of harassment by beggars that have been reported from tourist spots across the city.

“161 beggars including adults and kids involved in begging have been identified,” said Ashutosh Pednekar, District Collector.

“We have already issued orders to nab all identified beggars and begin their counseling; they have to either learn vocational skills or work somewhere, but they should not beg”, said Pednekar.

Courses including Mobile repairing, Gardening and Driving, apart from other skills are included in the training.

Subsequently, three suspects who are involved in running a begging racket in the city have been identified.  All three suspects have hundreds of small dummy idols of Shani Maharaj and ask children to beg in the name of God.